The team of HOSTEL has come up with a unique idea to promote their film. A uniqque 'Anti-ragging road trip' event is being done across colleges in India by HOSTEL film's writer-director Manish Gupta, singer Shibani Kashyap and actor Vatsal Sheth. Seventeen colleges in Mumbai have been covered already. The intention of the event is to create awareness in students about the ill-effects of ragging.

India is badly affected by ragging, a form of abuse on newcomers to educational institutions and has reportedly caused at least 30 deaths in the last 7 years. This year alone 10 students have lost their lives due to the brutal practice of ragging. HOSTEL is the only movie that addresses the issue of ragging.

HOSTEL is a story inspired by true life events of various boys' hostels especially Aman Kachroo who had died a year back. It is a film about a student played by Vatsal Sheth who enters a notorious hostel and is ragged by his seniors. It's not just about one incident but a string of incidents and is a hard-hitting reality-action film. It shows how students are tortured and harassed in the name of ragging.

Ragging is a sadistic practice that has become a ritual in most of the Indian hostels. Sadly, the students who are a victim of ragging - in turn vent their frustrations by ragging their juniors in the following years. Thus, this cruel practice continues year after year and has claimed (and is still claiming) the lives and careers of innumerable students. HOSTEL is a shocking eye-opener about this evil practice and is a wake-up call for all of us.

'There are many suicides that occur in Indian hostels due to ragging wherein students are beaten up, stripped, paraded naked, starved, tortured, molested and even raped by their seniors. Since victims of ragging find it humiliating to report sexual abuse to their parents or others, most ragging-related crimes go unreported. HOSTEL deals with the serious issue of ragging and through this film I want to show the world what actually a victim of ragging goes through', says writer and director Manish Gupta known for writing realistic and hard-hitting scripts like SARKAR and THE STONEMAN MURDERS (that was also directed by him.)